Casino Enterprise Management

Jump to:
Introduction
Best Bets
Associations
Architecture, Construction & Design
Cash-Handling and Banking
Financial Services
I-Gaming
Marketing
Peripherals & Accessories
Seating
Security & Surveillance
Slot Manufacturers
Systems & Technology
Table Games
Test Labs

Acres 4.0
At this year’s G2E, Acres 4.0 participated in the giant expo in a new way. Instead of exhibiting at a booth, Acres 4.0 Chief Marketing Officer Steve Neely and Chief Operating Officer Roy Corby walked the showroom floor, introducing current and potential clients to Kai™. The company also hosted forward-thinking casino executives at its offices to give them a more in-depth introduction to Kai and his capabilities.

According to Acres 4.0, Kai is the guy that transforms a casino guest’s experience from bad to enjoyable. Kai is a virtual employee that at a functional level is a workflow solution that automatically directs casino employees to customers with service issues on the slot floor. At a high level, Kai provides a more efficient and productive environment that makes customers happier, which translates into higher revenues and cost savings for properties that have hired him.

 Since they’ve installed Kai, current customers have seen nearly 25 percent decreases in customer wait times and, at a minimum, seen 10 percent decreases in overall labor costs. 

As Acres 4.0 positions itself for the future, the company is planning to expand Kai’s capabilities to include other areas of casino operations and the beverage service space. 

While addressing the overall feel of G2E, Neely and Corby were most looking forward to see who was going to push the envelope on mobile or interactive gaming. Corby also added that while traditional slots can sometimes be cool, the industry needs to move to a younger audience.





Agilysys
Agilysys was excited to have a presence on the G2E show floor. President and CEO Jim Dennedy said it's one of the company's best meetings of the year. "It gives us a chance to see a lot of our customers, get their feedback about our products and discuss their technology wish lists," he said.

During the show, the company was particularly enthusiastic about introducing its two new mobile solutions to the gaming industry. The first, Agilysys InfoGenesis™ Mobile v2.0, is a mobile point-of-sale (POS) application that integrates with the Agilysys InfoGenesis POS system and allows properties to streamline food and beverage operations. The second, Agilysys Insight™ Mobile Manager, allows service staff to view key property information quickly and easily from a mobile device.

Dennedy notes that one of the challenges the industry faces is reconciling the needs of guests who prefer to communicate via technology versus those who prefer to communicate in a more traditional way. "It's important for hotels and other hospitality venues to find a balance between the two," he said.

Agilysys’ development efforts for the coming year include a focus on solutions that offer a better understanding of guest spending. "We're making significant investments in this area, for both our in-market products and the next-generation platform we're designing,” Dennedy said.


BIS²
G2E is an annual event that everyone attends, according to Andrew Cardno, chief technology officer for BIS². “It is the perfect platform for networking, learning and sharing” Cardno said. “BIS² launches their new products at G2E and is able to get direct feedback on these new products at the show.”

BIS²’s data-matching technology, such as the vizDataMatcher™, can provide mathematically correct numbers for each play. “For all those with video poker and other multi-game devices, the knowledge of the patron playing on each game is crucial,” Cardno said.

vizDataMatcher is a software solution that utilizes highly sophisticated algorithms to match data sets, such as disparate customer data sets, to find a common customer identifier. The purpose of this matching, or consolidated customer value, is to improve key customer metrics and further implement effective reward programs or marketing campaigns. 

“Our top priority for the coming months is to build on the hard work we have done to enable mobility in the gaming industry with accurate product information,” Cardno said. BIS² has its vizExplorer™, which is currently being working on to enable mobility through the use of a handheld device such as a smart phone. With this, BIS² can deliver the Correct Theoretical Win at each machine and matched datasets plus information to a mobile device.

According to Cardno, one of the issues the industry is currently facing is the development of new products that appeal to a younger audience. “The younger audience has dramatically different patterns; BIS² enables marketing interaction and relationships to be built with these younger audiences, leaving behind the preconceived notions from the traditional casino player,”  he said.

He added that a younger audience needs innovative new gaming experiences and fresh gaming products to remain engaged, and BIS² products are helping operators by providing models and analytics that help them adapt and optimize this new technology.


Stics
Stics announced the new SticsPredicts Viewer product feature at G2E this year, which makes it possible for property staff to ask and answer key questions about customers quickly and economically. The tool also helps database managers access special reports and unique views of the SticsPredicts data delivered for more personalized results.

The company’s products have won numerous awards this past year, which Christy Joiner-Congleton, president and CEO of Stics, said can be both appealing and intimidating to properties.

“Stics has been updating its brand and its message to clarify that it is not important to understand the science behind a high-tech product to enjoy its rewards,” she said. “For instance, to enjoy the geo-mapping software in your car, you don’t need to know how it works. You simply appreciate it every time you are going somewhere you have never been before.”

As the industry begins to embrace change and experiment with new answers and technologies, Joiner-Congleton said Stics is ready to make these changes easy to implement and profitable.

“Change is afoot!” she said. “Progress simply cannot be made on the drawing board; it must be put into practice, kinks ironed out and new techniques implemented.”

She considers the mood of the show to be one of action where people can compare notes with hundreds of fellow answer seekers.

“It’s one of the rare times during the year when it is possible to reach many different corners of the industry at once,” she said. “It is a place where I can take the pulse of the industry.”